Kings may usurp thrones, republics may be established, but the town scarcely stirs. Plassan sleeps while Paris fights. - Émile Zola

إن أخرست الحقيقة ودفنتها تحت الأرض فسوف تَنْمو وتُنبِت

Lorsque l'avenir est sans espoir, le présent prend une amertume ignoble.

I would like to point out how this travesty was made possible, how it sprang out of the machinations of Major du Paty de Clam, how Generals Mercier, de Boisdeffre and Gonse became so ensnared in this falsehood that they would later feel compelled to impose it as holy and indisputable truth. Having set it all in motion merely by carelessness and lack of intelligence, they seem at worst to have given in to the religious bias of their milieu and the prejudices of their class. In the end, they allowed stupidity to prevail.